Current weather

Team Lean promotes healthier lifestyle

Many people make New Year’s resolutions to live healthier. The Family Y of Greater Augusta will help people accomplish that through Team Lean.

“We see people coming back each year and looking forward to it,” said community health director Janet Thornburg. “It’s helping them get back on track to a healthier year.”

The 12-week program is a community weigh down where individuals and teams compete while learning how to live a healthier lifestyle.

Over the past five years, more than 7,500 people have participated in the competition program and more than 64,000 pounds have been lost.

Team Lean kicks off Mon-day from 3 to 8 p.m. at all of the Family Y of Greater Augusta’s branches, including the Family Y of North Augusta. People can sign up now to participate.

Participants must be at least 14 years of age. They can compete as an individual or on a team of four or five. There are also competition categories for schools, faith-based organizations and a corporate cup challenge.

The cost to participate is $50 for Family Y members and $70 for nonmembers.

The first official weigh-in for all participants will be during the kickoff event. Weigh-ins will then be held each Thursday starting Jan. 24 through April 4. The grand finale will be held April 20 to recognize participants, the top three places in each category and those who have lost 20, 40, and 70 pounds. Cash prizes are available for the top three places in both the individual and team categories.

Participants also get 12 free visits to any local Family Y branch during the program and can participate in community health presentations and physical activity events.

“We realize that if we really want people to change their lifestyle, we need to help educate them,” said Thornburg.

The goal of the community health presentation is to provide participants with tools that can be used to keep up their healthier lifestyle beyond the 12 weeks, she added.

“Everybody has different ways of being successful at being healthy,” she said. “Our job as health and well-being specialists is to provide different tools that can meet everybody’s needs and help them be successful.”

Each year, there are stories of people seeing the difference exercise has made in their lives, she said.

“We hear of, within the 12-week period, people going to their doctor and adjusting medications,” she said. “Exercise has a tremendous impact on blood pressure and type-2 diabetes. So when people start eating better and moving more, it impacts their health in that 12-week period.”

Those interested in participating may visit any Family Y of Greater Augusta branch to sign up to participate. For more information about the program, visit www.familyy.org, visit a local Family Y branch or contact Thornburg at (803) 349-8101.